news from pvpusd elementary schools by kids for kids

they also built the center itself

to celebrate the reborn mural.

Michelle Garcia-Ortiz,

who is working for El Pueblo,

explained “during weekends,

people usually have to wait in

line, sometimes for one hour

to see the mural”.

Inside the center, there is

a mini-museum which shows

reproduction process and in-

formation about the mural and

the painter.

“The mural was the white-

washed because the politicians

who had power at that time

did not want other people to

I n 1932, one very talented

Mexican Painter drew a

mural on the wall of the

building in Los Angeles.

His name was David Alfaro

Siqueiros, and he named his

mural “América Tropical”.

This beautiful mural ex-

pressed a strong political

message about the freedom

for the people of Mexican

country and Native Ameri-

can people, so it was white-

washed by the people who

had power at that time and

had been forgotten.

The Getty Conser-

vation Institute invited

the Peacock Press to

the América Tropical

Interpretive Center to

see the restored mural.

The City of Los Ange-

les and the Getty Con-

servation Institute

were in charge of re-

storing the mural, and

América Tropical

Saving the Orangutans

Y ou know how impor-

tant it is to save our

endangered wildlife. Well,

one uncommon, endangered

animal is the orangutan.

An orangutan is a large,

hairy, and orange monkey.

They live to be about 35-40

years old. The Peacock Press

met up with Peninsula High

School student, Sarah C.,

who is a Youth Ambassador

for the Orang Utan Republik

Foundation (www.orangutan-

republik.org).

Sarah told the Peacock

Press many things about

these orangutans. These

creatures live in Indonesia

and Malaysia on the islands

of Borneo and Sumatra.

Here, there is amazing farm-

land and orangutans eat

mainly fruits. That is why

they live in this environ-

ment. Although, when farm-

ers see the animals feeding

on their crops, they must do

Volume 2, Issue 1 December 2012

Peacock Press Inside this issue:

Teacher of the Year 3

Tony Gayton 3

Susan Brooks 4

John Eberhard 4

Trent Waterson 5

U.S.S. Iowa 5

Vista Grande Festival 6

Lunada’s Disaster Prep 6

Vista Grande Challenge 7

Silver Spur Challenge 7

Red Ribbon at Lunada 8

Healthy Silver Spur 8

Rancho Vista Fun 9

Cornerstone Gangnam 9

Montemalaga at Camp 10

Cornerstone Mock Vote 10

P. Vicente Ghouligrams 11

Soleado Halloween 11

Endeavour 12

RPV Dog Park 12

Dance 4 Oceans 13

Centinela Feed 13

Great Barrier Reef 14

Grand Canyon 14

Magic Mountain 15

Robie House 15

Oppa Gangnam Style 16

PSY’s Gangnam Style 16

Lovable Hamsters 17

Christmas Trees 17

Rules Book Review 18

Westing Game Review 18

Wimpy Kid Third Wheel 19

Info Worm Cartoon 19

The Avengers Review 20

Marvel Studios 20

Hotel Transylvania 21

Hotel Transylvania 21

Sparrow Restaurant 22

Souplantation 22

PVPHS Principal Cress 24

PVPHS PressFriends 24

The Peacock Press is a project of PVPHS PressFriends Club and Palos Verdes Peninsula High School

News from PVPUSD elementary schools — by kids for kids

Continued on page 23

Continued on page 23

Peacock Press

Abigail M. Entertainment Rptr

Cornerstone

Aleksander M. Reporter at Large

Palos Verdes

Alice M. Reporter at Large

Vista Grande

Andrea L. Reporter at Large

Montemalaga

Anna M. Reporter at Large

Palos Verdes

Asumi S. News Editor Vista Grande

Carolina C. Chief Editor Lunada Bay

Alexandra Y. Features Editor Vista Grande

Caroline T. News Reporter

Dapplegray

Drew S. News Reporter

Silver Spur

Francesca M. Sports Reporter Mira Catalina

Hannah S. Sports Editor

Soleado

Hattie S. Chief Reporter Rancho Vista

Isabelle W. Chief Editor

Montemalaga

Jeannie-Rose M. News Reporter

Lunada Bay

Diana K. Chief Editor Vista Grande

Jenna P. Careers Editor Montemalaga

Josie B. Features Editor

Lunada Bay

Judith P. Entertainment Ed.

Cornerstone

Julianna P. Entertainment Rptr

Mira Catalina

Justin A. Science Editor Vista Grande

Kai M. Chief Reporter

Cornerstone

Kapil D. Science Reporter

Cornerstone

Jessica H. Chief Reporter

Soldeado

Kaylin L. Chief Reporter Mira Catalina

Lauren C. Entertainment Rptr

Point Vicente

Maddie Y. Reporter at Large

Vista Grande

Melina D. Chief Reporter

Silver Spur

Michaela L. Features Editor Montemalaga

Mikayla K. News Editor Silver Spur

Minji J. Chief Editor Point Vicente

Kristen M. Entertainment Rptr

Point Vicente

Nicole S. Reporter at Large

Vista Grande

Rachel M. Reporter at Large

Vista Grande

Raza K. News Editor Montemalaga

Rhiannon P. Entertainment Ed.

Lunada Bay

Ricardo P. Features Editor

Dapplegray

Ronjini C. Reporter at Large

Vista Grande

Olivia S. Careers Editor Lunada Bay

Rosalie B. Entertainment Ed.

Montemalaga

Sarah B. Careers Editor

Soleado

Sydney L. Reporter at Large

Montemalaga

Syris T. Reporter at Large

Montemalaga

Terrie J. News Reporter

Soleado

Thy D. Entertainment Ed.

Soleado

Ryan P. Sports Editor Point Vicente

2012-2013 EDITORIAL STAFF

Troy S. Sports Editor Cornerstone

December 2012

T ony Gayton is a screen-

writer who wrote the

movies Salton Sea, Murder

by Numbers, and Faster. He

also wrote the TV show Hell

on Wheels and two music

documentaries.

According to Tony Gay-

ton, the best thing about be-

ing a screenwriter is that you

get to use your imagination,

but the downside of the ca-

reer is that you work alone

most of the time.

Gayton says to become an

excellent writer you should

read a lot of books, but if you

are interested in becoming a

screen writer, you should

watch movies and TV shows

as well.

Tony Gayton graciously

answered some questions and

gave a lot of information to

Press Friends.

Peacock Press: Why did

you decide to become a

screenwriter?

Gayton: I have an active

imagination. I went to Film

School at USC and while I

was there, I realized that I

was good at writing.

Peacock Press: Who influ-

enced you the most?

Gayton: Probably my high

school English teacher, Mrs.

Bring.

Peacock Press: When you

write a movie or show do

you have specific actors in

mind?

Gayton: Sometimes, but not

always.

Peacock Press: Where do

your ideas come from? How

do you brainstorm?

Tony: My ideas come from

some weird place in my

brain, movies, books, etc. I

am inspired by everything

around me like the people I

meet and the places I go.

Peacock Press: Do you en-

joy watching the movies or

TV shows you’ve written?

Gayton: Not really, because

all I notice are the mistakes.

Peacock Press: What is the

favorite thing you’ve written?

Gayton: Salton Sea and

Hell on Wheels.

Peacock Press: What is

your least favorite?

Tony: All of the scripts I

wrote that never got made. Olivia S.

Careers Editor

Lunada Bay

Really, you wrote that?

FEATURES

school, said, “Ms. Clavadet-

scher, can you teach all

these kids?’’

Ms. Clavadetscher re-

plied, “Maybe if we all work

on white boards,’’

Then the students in her

class knew something spe-

cial was going to happen.

Ms. Dodell, who nominated

Ms. Clavadetscher started to

cry since they’ve worked

together for 10 years and are

close friends, who enjoy

laughter, and musicals.

Then Mr. London stated,

“If anyone can do it, it’s the

Teacher of the Year.”

F ourth graders at Dapple-

gray in Ms. Karen

Clavadetscher’s class are

lucky to be with the Palos

Verdes Peninsula Rotary

Club’s Educator of the Year.

Ms. Clavadetscher's

class, as well as all the other

fourth grade teachers and

students were very excited

when they heard the news

and swarmed into Ms.

Clavadetscher’s classroom

when the announcement was

made.

On the day of the an-

nouncement, Mr. Fred Lon-

don, the principal of our

Everyone in the room had

a smile on their face. All the

fourth grade teachers gave

her a hug, and Mr. London

gave a huge speech about

how Ms. Clavadetscher got

to Dapplegray.

After everyone was gone

and Mr. London went back

to his office, he announced it

on the loudspeaker in to the

whole school. I

Congratulations to Ms.

Clavadetscher from everyone

at the Peacock Press. Caroline T.

News Reporter

Dapplegray

Teacher of the Year at Dapplegray

Tony Gayton

Peacock Press

An Interview with Susan Brooks

improve the manner in which

our City interacts with the

public and to contribute for

the greater good.

Peacock Press: What do you

like best about being Coun-

cilwoman?

Brooks: Helping people get

answers to their concerns

rapidly and efficiently.

Peacock Press: What do you

like least about being Coun-

cilwoman?

Brooks: Occasional lack of

cooperation and too many

chefs in the kitchen can

make it difficult.

Peacock Press: If someone

is interested in becoming a

Councilmember, what does

he/she need to do/study?

Brooks: I would suggest

becoming involved in a City

Committee; we have several

of them which report to the

Council. Also, become an

activist for a cause which

will garner much support.

Learn diplomacy skills

through study, perhaps in

political science classes.

We are blessed to live in

a Paradise called Palos

Verdes and to have such a

great Councilwoman as

Susan Brooks to help us en-

joy it to the fullest!

Sarah B.

Careers Editor

Soleado

S usan Brooks is RPV's

Councilwoman and for-

mer Mayor of Rancho Palos

Verdes. She has been work-

ing as a Councilwoman since

1991. In 1989, Susan was

appointed Planning Commis-

sioner after fighting the Ma-

rine land closure. She wit-

nessed rude and insulting

Council members who had

forgotten that their job was to

be the servant to the People,

not vice versa. That is when

she first knew she wanted to

become a Councilwoman.

Peacock Press: When did

you become a Councilwoman

and why?

Brooks: First time was in

1991, then again in 2011. To

Who Keeps PVE Safe?

about his job is the people in

his department. He thinks it

is a team effort. He likes

working with the people in

his department and in the

community. Although it is

not always easy and he has to

go to many meetings, he

likes everything about his

job.

When asked what he

would like to accomplish,

Chief Eberhard said he wants

to keep his department going

in the right direction and to

maintain the respect of the

community. He wants to

come up with programs aimed

at helping the community.

The people who influ-

enced Chief Eberhard the

most are his parents. They

instilled in him morals, val-

ues, and ethics, such as treat-

ing people with respect and

doing the right thing.

Chief Eberhard’s favorite

hobby is sports. He grew up

playing sports and he likes

watching sports events. He

has a dog, a cat, and two

guinea pigs.

Here are Police Chief

Eberhard’s suggestions for

someone who wants to be a

Police Officer. You have to

stay out of trouble and live a

good, clean life.

Andrea L.

News Reporter

Montemalaga

T he residents of Palos

Verdes Estates are lucky

to have a lower crime rate

than many other cities in the

United States. Police Chief

John Eberhard is our new

Police Chief who started on

October 1st of this year.

Chief Eberhard wanted to

become a Police Chief be-

cause he grew up in this

neighborhood. Since he has

a deep connection with this

community, he wants to do

good things for it.

The job of a Police Chief

is to set goals and directions

for the entire Police Depart-

ment. He spends a lot of

time going to different meet-

ings. The thing he likes most

FEATURES

Susan Brooks

Andrea L. and PVE Police

Chief John Eberhard

December 2012

FEATURES

of his outward appearance even

though he was the strongest and

bravest soldier on the in-

side. These are connective

themes that we all go through in

the course of finding our identi-

ties and meaning through life.

Peacock Press: What problems

does the creative team have

when adapting comic books to

film, particularly with comic

book fans that know the charac-

ters so well?

Waterson: While we were

filming, there were lots of blog-

gers and comic book fans online

that began to post their ideas and

hopes of what our films would

be like. When we released the

trailer for Thor or The Aven-

gers, I could see comments with

T he Peacock Press spoke

with Trenton Waterson,

who worked as assistant to the

executive producer Patty

Whitcher for Marvel’s films,

Thor and The Avengers.

Peacock Press: What makes

Marvel characters so successful,

both in comics and in film?

Waterson: I quickly realized

that Marvel characters are so

successful in both comics and

film because they all have sto-

ries that, when stripped down,

are relatable to the readers and

audiences. Thor was a God of

Asgard that needed to learn

humility in order to be true to

himself, his family and his

realm. Steve Rogers was the

guy who got picked on because

fans’ excitement and their inter-

esting ideas about what was

going to happen in the film. It’s

a great feeling working so hard

to collaborate and watch a film

come together knowing that

there are so many people wait-

ing to see it.”

Peacock Press: Who is your

favorite Marvel character ?

Waterson: “I have come to

love Steve Rogers. From the

moment I saw him dive on the

(fake) grenade during his mili-

tary training, I realized I wanted

to have a heart that was like his

– to care for and save my fellow

man.”

Kai M.

Chief Reporter

Cornerstone

A Film Production Superhero

Trent Waterson

were mainly to protect the

battleship from enemy bat-

tleships. They are so strong

that they could actually take

out the Hollywood sign from

where it’s docked in San

Pedro.

The battleship weighs

58,000 tons and is 887 ft.

long. In the battleship, a mini

community lies inside. There

are barbers, cooks, mainte-

nance, and of course, our

brave heroes who work on

this ship.

In the middle of the ship

there’s a room especially

made for President Theodore

Roosevelt when he was in a

wheelchair. There was also a

hallway that stretched as

J ust around the corner is

the U.S.S Iowa, a battle-

ship. A.K.A. “The Big Stick.”

The Iowa was commis-

sioned in 1943 and decom-

missioned in 1990. One of its

missions was the ambush on

Japan. When Japan bombed

the battleship, even though

they hit the 16” gun, the men

inside felt nothing at all be-

cause it was protected by

19.7” of armor.

An interesting fact of the

U.S.S Iowa is that it has un-

manned radar machine guns

that are programmed to take

out enemy aircrafts. It has

three 16” triple main gun

turrets, each with a barrel

that is 66’8” long. The guns

long as a football field that

connected to his room. Now

in its new home in San Pedro,

the heroes still work there

and share their adventures

they had on the Iowa. If you

go there you might hear an

interesting story and learn

some cool facts about an

important battleship in our

history. Ricardo P.

Features Editor

Dapplegray

The USS IOWA is located at

Berth 87 at the Port of Los An-

geles. For more information on

visiting the Iowa, go to

pacificbattleship.com.

“The Big Stick”

Ricardo P. at the U.S.S.

Iowa

Peacock Press

The Fall Festival at Vista Grande

W ow! The Vista

Grande Fall Festival

flew by on October 21 this

year. The festival, a tradition

of Vista Grande for the past

50 years, happened this year

on a bright Sunday after-

noon. It was a grand success

with about 600 people at-

tending.

No one can have a festi-

val without cotton candy,

churros, hotdogs, hamburg-

ers and popcorn!

“I know our festival is

great and we have a lot of

new vendors this year,” said

Anna Park-Mar, the manager

of the festival.

Delicious Vietnamese

food from Sparrows and

yummy yogurt from iBerries

were here for the first time.

There were many activi-

ties that people enjoyed at

the festival. You could win

prizes and yummy treats at

the games like the Balloon

Pop and the Cake Walk,

climb the Rock Wall, slide

down the giant slide, get

your face painted and much,

much more! The all new

Terror Truck made you jump

out of your skin with its

huge, flying airbags, terrify-

ing dead bodies, ghostly

goblins, and creepy bugs!

Parents were allowed to

have fun too! They could sit

back, relax, and enjoy coffee

from Starbucks at the VG

Café, another new addition

this year. The VG Café also

sold muffins, cinnamon rolls,

and other baked goodies!

You could order a wrist-

band for $20 or buy tickets

for $1 each. If you want to

have all this fun at the fan-

tastic Fall Festival, don’t

forget to mark your calen-

dars for October next year.

Hope to see you there! Ronjini C.

News Reporter

Vista Grande

thing falling on their neck

and might get paralyzed or

severely injured.

They had to hold their

desk leg otherwise it would

shake and fall over on stu-

dents’ heads.

Throughout the state of

California students and

workers participated in dis-

aster drills. It is important

for all residents of California

to know what to do in an

event of an earthquake. In

Palos Verdes, there are re-

sources at the police station

and fire department to help

citizens of California to pre-

pare for an earthquake.

Palos Verdes hasn't ex-

perienced any major earth-

quake in recent history.

However, experts agree that

a major earthquake some-

L ast October Lunada Bay

Elementary School par-

ticipated in a disaster drill

much like all schools in the

state of California. The pur-

pose of the drill was to prac-

tice safety and coordination

during a disaster. A disaster

could be an earthquake, a

fire, or a lockdown.

During a drill students

pretend there is an earth-

quake. Teachers taught kids

to sit under their desks, cover

their necks, and hold on to

the desk legs.

Students had to climb

under their desks so if any

glass shattered or if any ob-

jects fell they would not get

injured by the items falling.

They had to cover their

neck because if they didn't

they would get hit by some-

where in California is bound

to happen sooner or later.

Disaster drills are one way

of preparing for a major

earthquake. Getting tips and

advice from a police station

or fire department is a great

way to prepare for an earth-

quake. Another way to pre-

pare for an earthquake is to

make a first aid kit including

bandages, food, water and

medicines.

Lunada Bay Elementary

School's disaster drills are a

useful way to practice for a

real disaster. Even though

Schools and businesses prac-

tice in October, it is good to

practice all year around in

case of an emergency. Josie B.

Features Editor

Lunada Bay

Preparing for Disasters at Lunada Bay

SCHOOL NEWS

December 2012

SCHOOL NEWS

L et’s go Team Kids!

Everyone at Vista

Grande is cheering for Team

Kids. Team Kids is an or-

ganization made up of stu-

dents who work together on

activities that better the lives

of others. It teaches the chil-

dren that they have the power

to make a difference.

Each month the students

take part in a service project

where they learn about lead-

ership, community, and help-

ing others through various

“challenges.” Fourth and

fifth graders make up the

Team Kids student council,

but everyone can participate

in the various challenges.

One example of the Team

Kids Challenge was Opera-

People will never know how far a little kindness will go . . .

T hese are the words of

Rachel Joy Scott, a spe-

cial person who lived her life

with a positive attitude. She

was a person who loved to

make people feel better and

liked being kind to others.

Rachel’s Challenge is a

program that teaches stu-

dents how to live a life of

purpose and to do acts of

kindness to make our school

a better place. For the sec-

ond year, Silver Spur Ele-

mentary School has taken

part in this program.

One of the goals of the

program is to start a chain

reaction of kindness and

compassion. Silver Spur has

started “Links of Kindness”,

a paper chain where students

or teachers who are seen do-

ing acts of compassion will

get a paper link to add to the

kindness chains in their

classrooms. An act of kind-

ness can be being nice to

others, having a positive atti-

tude or helping people.

Towards the end of the

school year, all the class-

rooms will link their chains

together at a special assem-

bly.

Program Coordinator,

Shari Shigenaga said that the

kindness chains made last

year were long enough to go

around the school’s Multi-

Purpose Room! This year,

Silver Spur’s goal is to make

its kindness chains long

enough to link with Monte-

malaga and Cornerstone Ele-

mentary Schools’ chains.

Mrs. Shigenaga shared

some examples of kindness

going on in the school, in-

cluding Kindergarten stu-

dents who are making sure

other students are not eating

lunch alone.

Remember, one small act

of kindness can go a long

way! Drew S.

News Reporter

Silver Spur

Vista Grande’s Team Kid Challenge

tion Gratitude, where stu-

dents wrote letters and col-

lected Halloween candy for

the soldiers serving in our

military. The Vista Grande

Voyagers raised approxi-

mately 500 pounds of candy

this year to send to service

members all over the world.

The November Challenge

is a food drive for the Rain-

bow Shelter, an organization

to for victims of family vio-

lence.

During December, the

challenge is a ball drive for

the Boys and Girls Clubs in

the Los Angeles area.

Last year, the Team Kids

Challenge lasted one month.

Since it was so successful,

the Team Kids Challenge

will continue throughout the

entire school year. At the

end of the year, there is a

Funfest, a festival that the

Team Kids organize and put

on to raise money for a se-

lected charity.

The Team Kids student

council is working hard to

make this a great year. Good

luck to Team Kids! Alexandra Y.

Features Editor

Vista Grande

Peacock Press

SCHOOL NEWS

taking drugs can hurt your

brain.”

One of the most impor-

tant activities of the week

was Project Angel Food.

Students collected coins for

people with lung cancer.

Walking Wednesday

made students aware of the

importance of clean air.

All week, even on fun

Crazy Hat Day, Lunada Bay

students wore red ribbon

bracelets to show their com-

mitment to making their

school—and all of America

Drug–Free. Jeannie-Rose M.

News Reporter

Lunada Bay

harmful alcohol, cigarettes,

and drugs are to a person’s

body.

Some activities were fa-

vorites with students. For

example, Lelonie, a fourth

grader in Ms. Louise’s class

said, “Crazy Hat Day is my

favorite of all the things we

did,” and Priscilla-Rose, a

second grader in Ms. Casti-

llo’s class said, “I loved

Fruity Friday.”

When asked what they

learned from Red Ribbon

Week, most students said

“Don’t take drugs.”

Some like Priscilla-Rose

said, “You should keep your-

self healthy and smoking

turns your lungs black and

R ed Ribbon Week isn’t

about Crazy Hat Day or

Fruity Friday, but about

keeping your body healthy.

Lunada Bay Elementary

School held Red Ribbon

Week from October 22nd

through October 26. For this

annual national event, each

student was given a red rib-

bon bracelet as a symbol to

show that drugs don’t make a

person feel better and are

harmful.

Everyone celebrated the

week wearing red clothes.

There were activities like

Crazy Hat Day, Walking

Wednesday, Project Angel

Food, and Fruity Friday. The

students learned about how

The Best of Me is Drug Free at Lunada Bay

Playing for Health at Silver Spur

H ealthy is the name of

the game at Silver Spur

Elementary! We celebrated a

week full of smiles, healthy

treats, fantastic exercises, and

lots of laughter called Red

Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon Week is so

awesome who wouldn’t want

to join in on the fun? The

answer is no one! That is

why the whole school is in-

vited to participate.

This exciting event took

place on October 8th through

October 12th at the one and

only Silver Spur Broncos

campus. Red Ribbon week isn’t

only about good exercise; it

is also about eating healthy

and helping our earth. We

are so lucky to have our very

own thriving organic Silver

Spur Garden! We plant fruits

and vegetables.

Some volunteers’ help

with a program called Grow-

ing Great, which is a special

class that students have to

teach us about our body and

its health.

Garden club is a club

where we plant and harvest

the Silver Spur garden.

Brooke C. of the garden

club is in fourth grade and

says her favorite part of gar-

den club is planting carrots

and harvesting figs.

We are thankful for are gar-

den. It really completes Sil-

ver Spur and Red Ribbon

Week. It is a hit.

Mikayla K.

News Editor

Silver Spur

December 2012

SCHOOL NEWS

Vista’s wonderful lunch lady

for her opinion.

The Peacock Press asked,

“How do you think this year

is going to wind up?”

Mrs. Debbie answered,

“Wonderful. You have a

wonderful staff, a wonderful

principal and awesome

teachers.”

The Peacock Press at

Rancho Vista agrees. We

will have a fantabulous year. Hattie S.

Chief Reporter

Rancho Vista

The Peacock Press asked

a few of the teachers at Ran-

cho Vista what they thought

would make this year a good

year.

“Do you think we are

going to have a good year?”

the Peacock Press asked Mrs.

Palmer, a fourth grade

teacher at Rancho Vista.

“I do not think we are

going to have a good year,”

Mrs. Palmer replied. “I think

we are going to have an out-

standing year.”

Next, the Peacock Press

asked Mrs. Debbie, Rancho

T his is a great start to a

great year. Maybe you

are making new friends or

playing soccer. Maybe

you’re the class clown or

totally straight forward.

Whatever you are doing, you

can have a great year if you

really try.

A Great Year at Rancho Vista

“O ppa Gangnam

Style!”

Have you caught the

Gangnam Style fever yet?

Gangnam is a neighborhood

in Seoul, Korea, that is

known to have rich and

classy people.

Some people try too hard

to be “Gangnam” and boast

about it. So, the song

“Gangnam Style,” is sort of

making fun of those people.

The artist, PSY (Park Jae-

Sang), only intended for

South Koreans to watch his

music video, so he put it on

You Tube; but the whole

world saw it and started the

Gangnam Style buzz. The

song became so popular that

it was danced on talk shows,

commercials, and sporting

events with young and old

alike using PSY’s signature

moves. On You Tube, it got

over a half a billion hits!

Year of Korea

at Cornerstone

Coincidentally, this year

at Cornerstone Elementary

School, the students are cele-

brating the Year of Korea as

their featured country of

study. Everyone has been

looking forward to learning

about the culture of the peo-

ple, but most of all, they are

having fun with the

“Gangnam Style.”

In October, Cornerstone

held its 20th Anniversary

party at the school. In addi-

tion to a special ceremony

honoring the teachers and

alumni, there was music, an

animal show, games, a police

car, photo booth, and face

painting.

The Year of Korea events

included cultural dancers and

musicians, Korean game

booths, and food sampling.

However, the most antici-

pated event was the Corner-

stone moms’ presentation of

“Gangnam Style.” It was the

hit of the night!

People of all ages, races,

and religion are actually hav-

ing a fun time because of this

song, and that’s a style we all

want to keep! Abigail M.

Entertainment Reporter

Cornerstone

Cornerstone Catches the Gangnam Craze

Peacock Press

SCHOOL NEWS

Outdoor Science School

malaga science

teacher Mr. Wells.

Peacock Press: Did

you enjoy the field

trip? Wells: Yes, I loved

the field trip. I liked

how the students got

to do science out in

the real world in-

stead of in a textbook.

Peacock Press: Would you go

back again?

Wells: Yes, I will go back

again because I get a new set

of kids to meet with. I like to

see the mountains while hik-

ing up them.

All the fifth graders had

a great time at the Outdoor

Science School and wish we

could go back again too.

Michaela L.

Features Editor

Montemalaga

O n October 2, 2012, the

fifth graders at Monte-

malaga Elementary School

went to the Los Angeles

County Department of Edu-

cation’s Outdoor Science

School at Blue Sky Meadow,

located near Big Bear City,

for three nights and four days.

The students learned that

the Jeffrey Pine’s bark smells

like vanilla. One of the fa-

vorite parts was the hike each

day which took at least one

to seven hours. The natural-

ist would stop once a while

to tell them about the nature

around us.

The Peacock Press inter-

viewed 5th grade Monte-

All About Prop. 37 and the Right to Know

B efore the Mock Election

at Cornerstone Elemen-

tary, the upper grades knew

how they were going to vote

for president and state assem-

bly. But voting on proposi-

tion 37 was another story.

This was a hard decision for

students to make.

Proposition 37 required

labeling on food packages for

genetically modified ingredi-

ents.

snowballed into a big deal on

campus.

The Voting Results

In the end, Prop 37 passed

at Cornerstone but it didn’t

do so well at the polls. Cali-

fornia voters did not vote for

the proposition requiring

labeling of genetically al-

tered foods.

If Prop 37 had passed,

would students have experi-

enced an increase in their

lunch prices in exchange for

information about the genes

in their food?

Although Prop 37 was

defeated in the November

elections, it is sure to turn up

again in some fashion. Kapil D.

Science Reporter

Cornerstone

Before the mock elec-

tions, students were arguing

loudly about the pros and

cons of Prop 37. A fourth

grader, Liam B.. who sup-

ported Prop 37 said that he

wants to know if there is

Bacillus thuringiensis or B.t.

genes in his food.

Other students who were

against Prop 37 said that

genetic engineering is help-

ful. B.t. genes make corn

crops resistant to

insects. Other genes

make crops drought

resistant. Also, la-

beling will make

food cost more.

Genetically

engineered food is

not generally harm-

ful to eat. It’s a sim-

ple question but it

December 2012

Ghouligrams are great to

give! I'm giving some to my

friends Kai and Nikita."

Jennifer K., also a 4th

grader at Pointe Vicente,

enthusiastically agreed that

she liked giving Ghouli-

grams to her friends.

Ghouligrams are not

limited to students at school.

Ghouligrams could be pur-

chased for teachers as well.

Jennifer said that she also

loves donating Ghouligrams

to the military.

We hope you supported

your school, brought joy to

your friends, and bought

Ghouligrams this year! Lauren C.


Pointe Vicente

activities that the proceeds

from the Ghouligrams will

help provide include science

programs, beautification of

the school, technology, and

other student council activi-

ties.

We asked Vincent K., a

4th grader at Point Vicente,

if he liked giving Ghouli-

grams to his friends. He an-

swered, "Ya! Of course!

G houligrams are a great

way to donate money to

the school, surprise friends to

make them happy, and cele-

brate the season!

Ghouligrams are the an-

nual Halloweenesque lolli-

pops sold in October that

everyone looks forward to

giving and receiving at Point

Vicente Elementary.

Mrs. Weiss, the organizer

of this program, provided us

with a lot of information in-

cluding how much ghouli-

grams cost, what the money

is used for, and the various

tasty flavors. She said, "We

made the price $1, so people

will buy many Ghouligrams

and help raise a lot of money

for great activities during the

school year.” Some of the

Yum, Point Vicente Ghouligrams!

D o any of you know why

Halloween was made?

Well, if you don't know,

great! Here, you will learn all

about Halloween.

Halloween is always on

October 31st. Halloween is a

holiday that is well-known

around her world. Three very

common activities that peo-

ple do on Halloween is wear

costumes, trick-or-treat, and

carve pumpkins into jack-o-

lanterns.

Halloween Costumes

Many people say they are

going to be witches for Hal-

loween. It is a

very popular cos-

tume. A cute cos-

tume is a candy

corn witch. Cos-

tumes are very

important so

many people buy

them. A lot of

stores sell out of

costumes.

Halloween Parade

Soleado has a Halloween

parade every year, and all of

the students are in the pa-

rade. It is very exciting and

very fun to see all the kids in

their costumes.

Have you started thinking

about your costume for next

year yet? What do you like

best about Halloween—the

costumes, trick-or-treating,

or carving pumpkins?

It would be fun if Hal-

loween lasted forever. And

that's because it is the best

holiday! Terrie J.

News Reporter

Soleado

A Spook-tacular Day at Soleado

SCHOOL NEWS

Peacock Press

P eople of all ages, let us

blast off into a world of

adventure. The Endeavour

was one of NASA’s amazing

space shuttles.

In the 1980s, an unnamed

space shuttle was finally fin-

ished and was ready to earn a

name. A competition was set

up for people to come up

with a name for the shuttle.

Kids in elementary schools

had the opportunity of a life-

time to name the space shut-

tle. President George H. W.

Bush drew the winning

name, “Endeavour.”

Endeavour was NASA’s

youngest member of its fam-

ily of space shuttles. It had a

19 year flight career, logged

nearly 123 million miles in

space, and zipped around the

earth more than 4,600 times!

Also, Endeavour flew a total

of 25 missions in space.

A Tribute to Challenger

Endeavour was made out

of the last space shuttle,

Challenger, which was lost

in the January 1986 accident.

When the Challenger was

ready to blast off into space,

one of the side rockets

sprung a leak. When the

shuttle took off, the running

gas on the side caught on fire

and lit the whole inside of

the side rocket. Then, the

whole rocket exploded in

front of everyone when the

shuttle hit the atmosphere.

NASA didn’t give up

though. They found remains

of the exploded shuttle and

turned the remains of the

Challenger into the Endeav-

our. The recycling of the

Challenger saved NASA

$1.7 billion dollars!

Endeavour’s second flight,

“STS-47 Mission,” in 1992

made history because of the

crew. The crew featured the

first African-American

woman to fly in space, Mae

Jepson, the first Japanese

astronaut, Mamoru Mohri,

and the first married couple,

Mark Lee and Jan Davis.

On its 25th mission, the

Endeavour flew on the back

of a plane to be carried all

the way from Florida to Cali-

fornia, so the Endeavour can

retire at the California Sci-

ence Center. Go see the ex-

hibit. It’s awesome! Justin A.

Science Editor

Vista Grande

The Marvelous Endeavour

Justin A. in front of the

Endeavour

COMMUNITY NEWS

New Dog Park in PV

Petru, deputy city manager,

“But this was one area where

it wasn’t going to interfere

with any other use.”

Rancho Caninos Dog

Park is level, has easy ac-

cess, and includes several

trees for shade.

“I think it’s going to be

pretty nice.,” Petru said.

Rancho Caninos Dog

Park has water stations and

seating areas, as well as rest-

rooms. Wood chips are

used as ground cover

and the park includes

separate spaces for large

and small dogs, along

with separate double

gate entrances for each

side. The hours for use of

the dog park are one hour

before sunrise to one hour

after sunset. Dog owners can

bring a maximum of two dogs

inside the dog park area, and

they must clean up after

their dogs. All dogs must

wear a current license and

vaccination tags. The owner

must remain with their dogs.

Establishing an off-leash

dog park on the Palos

Verdes Peninsula has

been a lifetime goal for

many of the areas dog

owners. Caroline C.

Chief Editor

Lunada Bay

A half-acre plot of land

near Rancho Palos

Verdes City Hall has been

turned into a temporary off-

leash Dog Park. Rancho

Caninos Dog Park is located

behind the tennis courts in

Point Vicente Park/Civic

Center at 30940 Hawthorne

Boulevard and was opened

on November 8th.

With its small size and

only temporary status, it falls

short of what dog park sup-

porters have spent years lob-

bying for on the Hill, but for

now it will do.

“We know it’s on the

lower end of the size for a

dog park,” said Carolyn

December 2012

COMMUNITY NEWS

F our years ago, a lucky

man named Jimmy

Mejia was hired to work at

Centinela Feed & Pet Sup-

plies, a local pet store. His

job duties include stocking

shelves, working the cash

register, and helping custom-

ers. Jimmy decided to work

at Centinela Feed because he

was looking for a job and

likes animals.

Jimmy stated that the

hardest part of his job is find-

ing the right thing for the

pets, for example, foods and

medicines that do not cause

allergies.

Jimmy said “the most

unusual pet I’ve seen in the

store was a snake.”

According to Jimmy, the

busiest time of the year is

around the holidays.

He proclaimed that Centi-

nela Feed is very safe for his

co-workers because all em-

ployees were trained when to

pet animals and when not to

pet animals.

His favorite part of the

job is having the pride and

joy of knowing that he has

helped animals in need.

Jimmy continues to work

at the pet store and hopes to

keep his job for a long time

because he loves animals.

Jenna P.

Careers Editor

Montemalaga

A Day at Centinela Feed

from six to fourteen, who

danced to the Michael Jack-

son tune in costumes they

created themselves. The

only stipulation on costume

design was that they had to

be made entirely from trash!

Colorful arrangements of

tin cans, cardboard, and other

forms of refuse were on dis-

play. The dance itself fol-

lowed the zombie routine

originally used by Jackson,

with weird jerky movements

and vacuous expressions on

T he name of the dance is

“Thriller”, a Michael

Jackson creation, and the

dance company is Thrill the

World South Bay. The pur-

pose of the dance was to

raise awareness of trash pol-

lution in the ocean.

This recent performance

of “Thriller” was given on

Saturday, October 27 at the

Promenade of the Peninsula

in Rolling Hills Estates. The

dancers included about 15 to

20 children, ranging in age

the dancers’ faces portraying

zombies come back to life.

The performance was given

on an open air stage near the

ice skating rink, with

passersby stopping to watch

the spectacle free of charge.

The dance was eye-

catching and colorful, enter-

taining for spectators, and

loads of fun for the performers.

Two performances were

given and additional activi-

ties followed the perform-

ances, including a raffle, a

dance contest and a fashion

show of trash costumes.

The affair was produced

by Bill MacDonald, an inde-

pendent producer/director of

Sea Pulse films, under the

logo “Dance 4 Oceans –

Save the Ocean from Plastic

Pollution.” The dance chore-

ographer was Kanna Jones.

Performances are given

semiannually on a coordi-

nated world-wide basis. Kristen M.


Pointe Vicente

Dance for the Sea

Peacock Press

that visit the reef to nest or

roost. The Great Barrier Reef

is larger than the size of It-

aly. No wonder it is home to

so many unique creatures.

Coral reefs are created by

a process called “spawning”.

This process happens when

coral releases eggs and

sperm into the ocean ap-

proximately ten to twelve

days after a full moon.

These reefs are vital to

the survival of several en-

dangered species. Recently

the reefs have come under

attack from a marine organ-

ism named The Crown of

Thorns Sea Star. This is the

reefs’ greatest enemy be-

cause it eats coral polyps.

The Great Barrier Reef’s

fame draws another enemy,

people! Two million visitors

every year which generates

six billion dollars in annual

revenue are a concern. Such

T he Great Barrier Reef is

around 500,000 years

old. The reef began to form

during the Last Glacial

Maximum and is comprised

of over nine hundred individ-

ual islands.

The Great Barrier Reef is

one of the “Seven Natural

Wonders of the World” and

can be seen from outer

space. This great reef sup-

ports ten percent of the

world’s total fish species

along with a vast amount of

other life forms. Thirty spe-

cies of whales, dolphins and

porpoises, more than fifteen

hundred fish species, about

five thousand species of mol-

lusks, seventeen species of

sea snake, and six species of

turtles such as the leather-

back sea turtle.

The Great Barrier Reef is

also home to two hundred

and fifteen species of birds

intense tourism might be

harming the fragile reefs.

Pollution is always a threat

to the delicate reefs.

Oil spills can be fatal and

littering as well. Water qual-

ity is a major factor in pollu-

tion. How you ask? During

floods, runoff containing

fertilizer and pesticides pour

into the reef’s waters, dam-

aging its delicate ecosystem.

The coastal wetlands act as a

natural filter for toxins but

these wetlands have de-

creased by over fifty percent,

according to the Great Bar-

rier Reef Coastal Wetlands

Protection Program.

We have an opportunity

to bring awareness to this

problem and protect Mother

Nature’s gift to us all.

Syris T.

Environmental Reporter

Montemalaga

The Great Barrier Reef

COOL STUFF

H ave you ever seen the

Grand Canyon in Ari-

zona? If you haven't, you

should go. Most people

would recommend it to kids

eight and older.

What is the Grand Can-

yon? The Grand Canyon is a

huge, rocky canyon formed

by rivers long ago. The

amazing landmark is about

one mile deep and about two

miles wide.

There are cool shuttle

buses that take you around

the Grand Canyon area. The

bus stops at several different

places around the canyon.

When you arrive at a stop,

you can get off and enjoy the

sights and take pictures as

well. For example, there is

one stop where you can see

part of the long Colorado

River at the very bottom of

the canyon. If you are quiet

enough, you can hear the

rushing river.

At another stop, you can

get off and there will be a

gift shop, a place to view the

Grand Canyon from another

angle, and a small snack bar

with basic items like ice

cream bars, Gatorade, pret-

zels, and water of course.

When your Grand Canyon

visit comes to an end, and

your shuttle is on its way to

the starting point, if you are

lucky, you can see some deer

or elk out the window. The

Grand Canyon is a must see

for you and your family!

Julianna P.


Mira Catalina

Visit the Grand Canyon

December 2012

per-fast, but it is not as fast

as the others. Riders sit in a

chair with their feet dangling

towards the ground. It is

scary to look down, so don’t

try it!

Don’t worry, there are

also smaller rides for those

not yet ready for the big rol-

lercoasters. If you are under

fifty or forty-eight inches

tall, you can only go on a

few rides, but the little kids

can also go to Bugs Bunny

Land to do the smaller rol-

lercoasters. There, you will

find the teacups, a ball pit

where you shoot balls at

people and even a merry-go-

round.

M agic Mountain is the

place to have the time

of your life! The theme park

has some of the biggest rol-

lercoasters ever to exist!

The Rides

One of scariest rides of

them all is, The Colossus, it

is very shaky and scary. It

even looks old. You need to

be brave to ride it.

Another big ride is The

Scream! The Scream has

lots of loops, it even goes

upside down! It looks super

cool, but it is very high off

the ground!

If you are not feeling so

brave, The Ninja moves su-

The Food

There are also lots of

places to eat, too. There are

ice cream shops, French fry

stands, bakeries with sand-

wiches and salads. There are

little shops to get souvenirs.

Here’s the best part, there is

an awesome candy shop with

huge lollipops where you

can stop on your way out!

And More . . .

Hurricane Harbor, the

water park, is next door and

is great on hot days. It gets

crowded, so go early. Sydney L.

Reporter at Large

Montemalaga

Magic Mountain

COOL STUFF

I n the mystery novel called

The Wright 3, three kids

save an important monument

from being torn down. The

book talks about a popular

landmark in the 1900s.

Robie House History

This famous building is

the Robie House. It is lo-

cated in Hyde Park, Chicago.

It was built for Fredrick C.

Robie and his family. Robie

paid $13,500 for the 0.3

acres of land, and hired ar-

chitect Frank Lloyd Wright

to design it for him. The Ro-

bie House measures 9,062

square feet whereas the aver-

age home in the United

States is 2,300sqf.

It was designed between

1908 and 1909. Fredrick's

house became famous in the

1900s because it was ahead

of its time, and the style was

completely new. The style

Wright chose was called

“Prairie style,” which is an

architectural style that looks

like a vast prairie landscape.

Mysteries and Myths

Strange happenings have

also occurred behind the

detailed windows of the

house. All of the owners of

the house have been mysteri-

ously involved with death.

The Robies only stayed for

fourteen months due to the

death of Fredrick's father and

financial problems which

occurred afterward.

David Lee Taylor, presi-

dent of the advertising com-

pany Taylor-Critchfield Co.

bought the house from Robie

in 1911. He died in less than

a year.

The last family to live in

the home were the Wilbers.

They had two daughters and

the oldest died in 1916. Is

the home haunted?

In 1957, it was planned

for demolition but real estate

developer William Zecken-

dorf came to the rescue and

bought it. In 1963, he do-

nated it to the University of

Chicago.

For lovers of the mystery

behind the home, there is a

Lego model of the Robie

House available for sale.

The Robie House will

always be remembered as

one of the most treasured

monuments in the U.S. for

its interesting history and

beauty. Melina D.

Chief Reporter

Silver Spur

The Robie House in Chicago

Peacock Press

COOL STUFF

recognized by Guinness

World Record as the most-

liked video in YouTube his-

tory.

Gangnam Style is popu-

lar because the horse trot

dance is so different, unique,

and funny.

PSY is the singer of

Gangnam Style. He is a

South Korean rapper. PSY is

a songwriter, rapper, dancer,

and record producer. His real

name is Park Jae-Sang. He

made songs before, but they

were only famous in Korea.

Oppa Gangnam Style

Have you ever wondered

what Oppa Gangnam Style

means? Part of the lyrics

“Oppa Gangnam Style”

means big brother downtown

style. Oppa means brother or

H ave you ever heard of a

song called Gangnam

Style? Well if you said

“yes,” you’re one of almost a

billion people who heard it

too.

Gangnam Style is the

most watched K-pop music

video. K-pop means Korean

pop or Korean popular mu-

sic. K-pop falls into differ-

ent music genres like dance,

electronic, electro pop, hip

hop, and rock.

Gangnam Style is also the

3rd most watched music

video out of all genres.

Gangnam Style was released

on July 15, 2012. On Sep-

tember 17, 2012 the song

was nominated best video

2012 MTV Europe Music

Awards, and on September

20, 2012 Gangnam Style was

big brother. Gangnam is the

Gangnam District in Seoul,

which is a wealthy, trendy

and fancy area to live, and

you already know what

“style” means.

PSY has said, “The peo-

ple who actually live in

Gangnam District don’t ad-

mit it or brag about it but the

wannabees are the ones who

lie and say they live in

Gangnam District.”

Have you seen anybody

do the horse trot dance be-

fore and you’re thinking

“what are they doing?” Well,

now you know and you can

dance with them and be cool

too. Isabelle W.

Chief Editor

Montemalaga

Gangnam Style Comes to America

G angnam Style is a tune

out of this world!

These lyrics will catch your

attention and make you want

to get up and dance. This

catchy hit is pop, so it’s very

upbeat.

The Singer PSY

The recording artist and

writer of this fabulous song

“Gangnam Style” is Park Jae

-Sang, a South Korean

singer. His stage name is

PSY which stands for psycho.

This hit song writer was

born on December 31, 1977

in South Korea. He is 37

and hobbies include travel-

ing, dancing, and dressing up

super crazy. He was born

poor, but grew up to be a

famous singer called PSY.

PSY released his first

album in 2001 called “PSY

from PSYcho World.” His

sixth and latest album, “PSY

Six (Six Rules), part one,”

became Number One instan-

taneously.

Our Review

What does the world

think of this fabulous tune?

Personally this song is awe-

some and very catchy and

flowing. His signature horse

move is part of his outra-

geous music video. This hit

is a phenomenon and got

over 400,000,000 views on

YouTube! Girls and boys of

all ages will love to dance to

this song.

PSY wrote Gangnam

Style at age 37 and has be-

come a phenomenon. This

extreme song will blow your

mind from beginning to end.

Gangnam Style is the

world’s greatest hit in the

United States of America

today. So pump up the vol-

ume with Gangnam Style! Rhiannon P.

Entertainment Editor

Lunada Bay

Pump Up the Volume with Gangnam Style

Park Jae-Sang

December 2012

T he hamster is a popular

pet for kids and doesn’t

need much care. Here are

some tips for caring for this

cute creature.

When choosing a pet

hamster, go to a pet store or

place that is reliable. Make

sure the hamster you want

looks healthy (a good sign of

a healthy hamster is if its

eyes look lively and shiny).

Hamster Home

When housing a hamster,

make sure the cage has no

openings or cracks because

hamsters are known for be-

ing escape artists. Avoid

double cages with drop

downs which may lead to

broken limbs or other serious

injuries. The cage should be

big enough and have toys for

the hamster to play with.

Hamster Food

When feeding hamsters,

make sure to feed them a

balanced diet. Some great

foods to feed hamsters are:

lettuce, bananas, berries,

apples, carrots, mealworms,

broccoli, pasta, white bread,

cherry tomatoes, and

chicken. Treats such as rai-

sins or sunflower seeds are

not an everyday thing, but

could help if a hamster es-

capes. Make sure to give

hamsters hard things to

gnaw on such as corn on the

cob or a seed mix. Also

make sure the hamster’s dish

always has food in it.

Hamster Fun

Last, but not least, make

sure the hamster has fun

things to play with such as a

classic exercise wheel, paper

towel rolls, tissue boxes,

balls that it can run in, and

shoe boxes. Change the toys

in the cage daily, so the

hamster doesn’t get bored.

You should now have a

happy, healthy hamster. To

read more about hamsters,

get the book The Hamster by

Betsy Sikora Siino. Nicole S.

Pet Care Reporter

Vista Grande

Caring for a Happy, Healthy Hamster

COOL STUFF

same tree over and over

again. When it grows too big

for your house you can plant

it in your yard.

Y ou may think Christ-

mas trees are plentiful

everywhere, but they’re actu-

ally not. Once you cut them

down it takes 9-11 years to

grow a new one just the right

size for your house. Of

course, people need to find

seeds to grow Christmas

trees and that’s not easy ei-

ther. Not all plant stores sell

them.

If you want to find a

Christmas tree you would

usually buy it in a pot for

you. Then the next year and

the next, you can reuse that

You should not cut down

trees because they produce

air for us to breathe. When

you cut down a Christmas

tree you could be cutting

down a home for an animal.

That one tree will help the

world by going green instead

of cutting down trees for

Christmas.

So give a present to the

world! You can make a big

difference!

Thy D.


Soleado

Oh Christmas Tree

Peacock Press

used a communication book

and tapped certain words to

form a sentence.

Soon Catherine has a new

neighbor named Kristi. Her

friendship with Kristi causes

drama between Jason, Kristi,

and Kristi’s new boyfriend

Ryan.

Rules is an amazing

book, and it would probably

be a fantastic movie! It

would be a fantastic movie

because it has a ton of dra-

matic parts and it has a great

moral.

This book is for ages

eight to 12 plus, and is great

for both boys and girls!

In the end, Rules makes

the book worth reading. To

I f you like reading books,

then you will not want to

miss a book called Rules by

Cynthia Lord. This book has

won nine incredible medals,

including the Newbery

Honor Medal and The

Schneider Family Book

Award.

Rules is about a 12 year

old girl named Catherine

who has an eight year old

brother named David who is

autistic. David goes to a

class called OT to help

stimulate his brain. There,

Catherine meets this boy

named Jason who is para-

lyzed. Soon Catherine real-

ized Jason cannot speak, but

he can hear perfectly. He

find out what happens in the

end, you will have to read

the book! You will not be

disappointed! Jessica H.

Chief Reporter

Soleado

Rules, Rules!

BOOK REVIEWS

A perfect mystery for

those cool weather days

when the sun goes down

early is The Westing Game.

The book is written by Ellen

Raskin.

The Westing Game is

about a wealthy business-

man, Sam Westing, who pre-

dicts his own death. He

thinks the killer is one of

sixteen people who live or

work at his apartment build-

ing. He makes them heirs to

his $200 million dollars, but

only if they can find his kil-

ler. He gives them clues

from his will and the West-

ing Game begins.

One interesting character

in the story is a thirteen year

old girl named Turtle Wex-

ler. Her mother does not

think she is so great and likes

her beautiful older sister

more. However, Turtle is

brave, smart, and adventur-

ous. She plays a big role in

solving the mystery.

The book is good because

it is full of surprises. The

characters are not whom they

seem to be and Mr. Westing

plays them like pieces in a

chess game.

Who killed Mr. Westing?

Who will win the game?

You will need to read this

Newbery Medal book to find

out! Girls and boys, ages 9-

14, will like this book.

Kaylin L.

Chief Reporter

Mira Catalina

The Westing Game

Author Cynthia Lord

Author Ellen Raskin

December 2012

BOOK REVIEWS/CARTOON

Find out by reading the

7th book of the Diary of a

Wimpy Kid series. The book

is funny and suspenseful and

you won’t be able to put it

T he Diary of a Wimpy

Kid—The Third Wheel

by Jeff Kinney came out on

November 14, 2012. It was a

great success and many peo-

ple ordered it before it came

out, because they were fans

of the other books in the Di-

ary of a Wimpy Kid series.

This book is about how

Greg Heffley (who is in mid-

dle-school) tries to find a

partner for the Valentine’s

Day Dance. Will Greg find a

partner in time for the big

dance?

down. The cartoons, as al-

ways, make the book differ-

ent from other books and

keep you hooked and laugh-

ing. Once you do finish it, I

don’t think you will have to

wait long for a new one. Jeff

Kinney has plans to write

even more! Don’t miss out

and read the Third Wheel

now. You will not be disap-

pointed.

Anna M.

Book Review Reporter

Palos Verdes At Large

Diary of a Wimpy Kid—The Third Wheel

Author Jeff Kinney

Peacock Press

Natasha Romanoff, other-

wise known as the famous

Black Widow, join together

to save the planet and get

Loki back to Asgard. Will

they succeed? Watch the

movie to find out!

The Reviews

The reviews on Rotten

Tomatoes (rottentomatoes.

com) give The Avengers a

positive rating. 96% of the

reviewers enjoyed the

movie.

Blu-ray reviews (blu-

ray.com) said it was the

2012 biggest hit, the 3rd

highest grossing film domes-

tically and worldwide, high-

est entertaining blockbuster,

W hat new hot movie

has action, adventure,

and teamwork that came out

last summer? That’s right!

Marvel’s The Avengers!

Marvel’s The Avengers is

filled with many Marvel su-

per heroes joining together to

save the planet from evil

Loki, Thor’s brother, and an

out-of-control energy source

he steals for himself called

Tesseract (TES-uh-RAY).

Loki, if he returns it to his

planet, will receive an army

to conquer the Earth for his

home planet, Asgard.

To protect the Earth, Cap-

tain America, Thor, Iron

Man, Hawkeye, The Hulk,

and for some girl-power,

and each movie gets better.

For Your Enjoyment

You can now buy the

film on DVD in 3D, Blu-

Ray, regular DVD, and Digi-

tal Copy. If you’d like all

four, you can buy the Four

Disc Pack.

Remember to have your

parents’ or adults’ approval

because this film is PG-13

and has some adult language

and action that may be too

intense for some children.

So sit back and enjoy

Marvel’s The Avengers in

your own family room to-

day! Hannah S.

Sports Editor

Soleado

Action, Adventure, Teamwork!

S piderman once said, “With

great power comes great

responsibility. This is my gift,

my curse.” Marvel Studios,

located in Manhattan Beach, has

the power to turn the Marvel

comic book characters into film

superheroes and super villains

and has the responsibility to

make amazing films, especially

for audiences who are comic

book fans. Films like Iron Man,

Iron Man 2, The Incredible

Hulk, Thor, Captain America:

The First Avengers and Mar-

vel’s The Avengers have done

just that.

The new age of Marvel

films started when The Walt

Disney Company bought Marvel

Entertainment, LLC for $4.24

billion. Marvel Studios is re-

sponsible for the “Marvel Cine-

matic Universe” which is the

fictional environment that the

Marvel characters inhabit. The

first movies produced and

filmed at the new studios were

Iron Man and The Incredible

Hulk, both blockbusters that

made over $585 million (Iron

Man) and $263 million (The

Incredible Hulk). Films now in

production include Iron Man 3

and Thor: The Dark World.

Kai M.

Chief Reporter

Cornerstone

Avengers Assemble...in the South Bay

MARVEL MOVIES

December 2012

just in time to ruin the whole

thing.

Humans are not allowed,

so under Dracula’s guidance,

Johnny blends in by dressing

up as a monster in order for

him to make it out of the

hotel unnoticed. His plan

almost works, but there’s

just one problem, Mavis falls

in love with Johnny and

Dracula’s world is turned

upside down.

The Reviews

According to Rotten To-

matoes critics, Hotel Tran-

sylvania was given a 44%

approval score, with some

critics saying it “lacked hu-

mor and originality”.

O n September 28, 2012,

Hotel Transylvania

opened in theaters.

The Story

The film tells the story of a

modern day Dracula, played

by Adam Sandler, who owns

a hotel just for monsters to

get away from the human

world.

In the story of this over-

protective father, his daugh-

ter Mavis, played by Selena

Gomez, just wants to explore

the world outside of the ho-

tel. Dracula excitedly plans a

big party for Mavis’ 118th

birthday, until an unexpected

human guest, Johnny, played

by Andy Samberg, shows up

Michael O’Sullivan of

the Washington Post stated,

“Hotel Transylvania may

offer a perfectly fine Hal-

loween themed getaway for

young kids, but there aren’t

many amenities for Mom

and Dad.”

In addition, Claudia Puig

of USA Today thought that

the movie borrowed some

ideas from “the far more

clever, Monsters Inc.”

Although the reviews

mentioned were not that

great, in my opinion, I

thought the movie was funny

and entertaining for all ages. Rosalie B.


Montemalaga

3 out of 4 Stars for Hotel Transylvania

MOVIE REVIEWS

H otel Transylvania is an

animated movie about

Dracula, who tries to run a

hotel that is hidden from

humans. Humans have to

walk through skeletons that

pop out of tombstones, mum-

mies that attack and more

scary creatures to get to the

hotel.

Dracula has a daughter

named Mavis. It is her 118th

birthday so he invites all of

their friends to the hotel to

celebrate. All Mavis wants

to do is see the world but her

dad thinks it is not safe be-

cause of the humans.

Mavis’s mom was killed by

humans when Mavis was a

baby.

Mavis’s mom gave Drac-

ula a present to give to

Mavis when she turned 118.

Her mom gave her a book

about how Dracula and

Mavis’s mom met. At the

end, the book said that

Mavis would find her first

love on her 118th birthday.

One day a human, Jona-

than, comes to the hotel.

Dracula quickly paints Jona-

than to look like Franken-

stein so the monsters don’t

know there is a human in the

hotel.

Jonathan and Mavis,

Dracula’s daughter, fall in

love. Dracula does not ap-

prove of them going out so

he insists that Jonathan leave

the hotel. On Jonathan’s

way out, Mavis asks Jona-

than to stay. The two watch

the sunrise from the top of

the roof but when Jonathan

falls through the roof, he is

discovered by Dracula.

Dracula disguises Jona-

than as his party planner but

makes him leave again.

You will enjoy watching

the ending to find out if

Mavis and Jonathan find

true love.

The actors for the voices

are Selena Gomez (Mavis),

Adam Sandler (Dracula) and

Andy Samberg (Jonathan).

The movie is rated PG. Both

kids and parents will enjoy

watching Hotel Transylva-

nia. Rachel M.


Vista Grande

Hotel Transylvania

Peacock Press

RESTAURANT REVIEWS

called “pho” (pronounced

“fuh”).

Another favorite is the

“banh mi.” It is a sandwich

with French bread, cucum-

ber, pork or chicken, cilan-

tro, carrot, and jalapeno.

The bread is crunchy, the

pork is flavorful, and the

cucumber is juicy.

To top off the delicious

sandwich, people like a Viet-

namese iced lemonade. Its

ingredients are Sprite, fresh

lemon, and ice. They like it

because it has a lemon-lime

flavor and it is bubbly.

Fly Now to Sparrow

Sparrow has been open for

eight months. The restaurant

is located at 550 Deep Val-

H ave you ever been to

Sparrow? It is a family

-run Vietnamese restaurant.

The owners, Lynn and

Vince MacNguyen, started

this business as an invest-

ment, and because Lynn is a

good cook. Their two kids

go to Ridgecrest and Penin-

sula High School.

The MacNguyens named

the restaurant “Sparrow”

after a Vietnamese movie.

Also, when Vince was grow-

ing up in Vietnam, there

were a lot of sparrows, so the

name reminds him of Viet-

nam.

Menu Favorites

The most popular dish there

is the noodle soup, also

ley Drive in the Promenade

next to iBerries. The phone

number is 310-377-6400.

When you go, you should

bring $5-9 per person. It is

open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

on Monday through Satur-

day, and on Sunday from 11

a.m. to 6 p.m.

Go to Sparrow because

the food is great and the ser-

vice is too! Maddie Y.

Reporter at Large

Vista Grande

Sparrow

M mm! That chili from

the soup and pasta bar

just filled me up. Absolutely

loved the hints of spicy pep-

pers and soft kidney beans.

A place where you can

taste this wonderful soup is

at Souplantation. Not only is

there soup and pasta bar, but

there is a salad bar, mini bak-

ery, fruit selections, and even

an ice-cream machine.

The Salad Bar

The salad bar comes with

many choices of different

prepared salads, or you can

concoct your own salad from

scratch with fresh assort-

ments of greens, toppings,

and dressings.

The Bakery

In their mini bakery, many

people recommend the pizza

bread and garlic bread be-

cause they are freshly made

and you can feel the delicious

warmth as you sink your

teeth into the bread with their

special ingredients. The bak-

ery has many other sumptu-

ous selections such as muf-

fins, cookies and brownies.

Desserts

Also, you cannot forget

about the table with fruits,

jello, and different mousse

that tastes out of this world

with fruits. You’d probably

visit the ice-cream machine

just to fill up your tummy.

There are two original fla-

vors, vanilla and chocolate or

combination of two flavors

swirled together, which you

can top off with choices of

peanuts, sprinkles, caramel,

or chocolate sauce.

When you visit the spec-

tacular Souplantation, you’ll

no doubt say, “it’s Souptastic

and more!” Diana K.

Chief Editor

Vista Grande

Souptastic!

Banh Mi

21309 S Hawthorne Blvd Torrance, CA 90503 M-Th: 11-9; F-Sat: 11-10; Sun: 9-9

December 2012

see it because it made a po-

litical statement and could

have been influential” Ms.

Garcia-Ortiz said.

You view the mural from

the second floor of the

América Tropical Interpre-

tive Center. The mural itself

is on another building across

the street. The mural size is

very large—19.7 feet by 98.4

feet. People can see and en-

joy the whole mural because

of the distance.

In the mural, there is a

jungle which has many

branches overlapping and

creating a powerful image.

At the bottom, there is a pre-

Columbian statue and a fig-

ure on a double cross. A

North American Eagle is

attacking the figure.

Even though the painting

is faded and there is some

distance between you and

mural, you still can feel the

power and energy from it.

On the day or our visit,

there was a festival and an

opera written by Oliver

Mayer and composer David

Conte that was inspired by

Siqueiros' story. People en-

joyed a good, sunny Los An-

geles day in complete free-

dom. That is what the painter,

David Alfaro Siqueiros, might

have dreamed of. Asumi S.

News Editor

Vista Grande

something to stop them. As a

result, farmers feel the need

to injure them or even kill

them.

Another reason the

orangutan population is de-

creasing is because when

they are babies, they are very

cute. That is why humans

take them as their own and

raise them. They are cute at

first, but what happens when

they get old enough to need a

larger, more natural environ-

ment? Owners are forced to

give them their freedom and

let them go. Soon, the

orangutan must survive in the

wild without any training

from their mothers. Would

you be able to survive like

that?

Normally, orangutans live

with their mothers until they

are about 9 years old. All

those years, mothers must

teach their offspring how to

be safe in the jungle, espe-

cially since orangutans do

not live or travel in groups.

There are only 50,000

orangutans today. Compared

to the world population of

humans, that is not a lot. To

help save these monkeys.

You can find out more at

www.orangutanrepublik.org.

Remember, one person can

make a big difference for our

endangered wildlife.

Ryan P.

Sports Editor

Point Vicente

América Tropical

Continued from page 1

Saving the Orangutans

Continued from page 1

David Alfaro Siqueiros

Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders are invited to join PressFriends for our FREE Winter

Workshop at the Palos Verdes Peninsula Library. Write an article about your favorite

story about your mom and be published in our special Mother’s Day edition of PV Kids

News. Sign up at tinyurl.com/pvkidsjan2013.

Special Mother’s Day issue of PV Kids News

http://tinyurl.com/pvkidsjan2013

Peacock Press

Writing is fun and creat-

ing such an impressive

newspaper is a source of

pride for both the elemen-

tary school participants and

the high school mentors.

They have worked together

as a team, and developed

leadership abilities and or-

ganizational skills that will

serve them well in all their

future endeavors.

An elementary student

working with a high school

student is the perfect col-

laborative project. Fourth

C ongratulations to the

Peacock Press editors

and reporters and the

PVPHS Press Friends Club

on their December issue of

the Peacock Press. Peninsula

High School is honored to be

a participant in this out-

standing project that has

brought elementary schools

throughout the Palos Verdes

Peninsula Unified School

District together for the pur-

pose of creating a twice a

year newspaper written “by

kids, for kids.”

and fifth grade students

have improved their writing,

reporting, and editing skills;

while high school students

have had an opportunity to

develop mentoring skills.

Hopefully some of the

names you read in the by-

lines will be the future writ-

ers and editors of “The Pen”

newspaper. It truly has been

a win/win situation for

everyone involved.

Congratulations on a

fabulous issue!

Mitzi Cress

Letter from PVPHS Principal, Mitzi Cress

Mitzi Cress

Letter from PVPHS PressFriends Club

T he PVPHS PressFriends

club would like to con-

gratulate the 2012-13 edito-

rial staff of the Peacock Press

for doing a great job with

their first issue, and to thank

their parents for their sup-

port.

For this issue, we appreci-

ate the special invitation

from the Getty Conservation

Institute and playwright

Oliver Mayer to attend the

América Tropical festivities

and to experience the

América Tropical opera. Mr.

Mayer wrote the libretto.

We’d like to thank the

PVHS PressFriends Club and

Mira Costa High School

PressFriends Club for all

their help with mentoring.

Finally, a very big thanks

to our principal, Mitzi Cress,

and to our wonderful advisor,

Lisa Dohren, who gives us

both support and inspiration.

Luke Southwell

Co-President

PVPHS PressFriends Club

news from pvpusd elementary schools by kids for kids

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